The Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the 70 apostles of Jesus Christ, who formed the second circle of the Savior's disciples after the next 12, on January 17.
The word "apostle" itself translates from Greek as "messenger on a special mission," and almost everyone who is at least a little familiar with Christianity has heard of the 12 apostles– the closest disciples of Jesus Christ.
However, during His earthly ministry, there was a second, wider circle of 70 disciples. Very little is said about this in the Gospel, but what is striking is not the quantity, but the quality of the information.
The Lord sent them to preach the gospel in various cities of Palestine. Upon their return, they joyfully told Christ that even evil spirits obeyed them when they uttered His name.
However, the Savior's response was unexpected: "... do not rejoice that the spirits obey you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:1-20). These words are the whole essence of Christianity. It turns out that faith in Christ is expressed not in miracles at all, but in love for Him.
They did not believe that Jesus was God because they had seen His earthly ministry firsthand, otherwise Christ would have had many more than 70 disciples. Moreover, look at how people treated Jesus differently: some, seeing His greatest miracles, believed that He was the Savior, while others tried to kill Him.
The faith of the 70s was based on the love of God. That is why they saw in the "wandering philosopher of Nazareth" something that many contemporaries did not see. They saw in Him Christ and God who had become man.
Today's Christians are no different from the first 70 disciples, because the miracle of meeting God always follows love for Him, and Christians hope that their names will be "written in heaven."